Before Tommi's Burger Joint became a hip, even hipster-y hamburger chain it was called Tommaborgarar. Founded in 1981 Tommaborgarar quickly became the dominant hamburger chain in Iceland. With five major restaurants in Reykjavík and eighteen locations around Iceland in the 1980s, the Tommi burger joints have often been credited with having kept the global hamburger giants McDonald's and Burger King out of Iceland.

Tommaborgarar The original logo of Tommi's burger joint, Tomma Hamborgarar

Tommi later closed down his Tomma hamborgarar franchise in Iceland, only to re-open it as Hamborgarabúlla Tómasar (or Tommi's Burger Joint in English) in 2004. And this new/resurrected Icelandic hamburger franchise is making a major splash outside of Iceland! Tommi has just opened his third restaurant in London. The new restaurant is located in Soho. Previously Tommi's Burger Joint had a presence in Marylebone and Chelsea.

In addition to the three restaurants in London there are seven Tommi's Burger Joint restaurants in Iceland and seven outside of Iceland: Two in Berlin, three in Denmark, one in Sweden and one in Norway. A second restaurant is also being planned for Oslo, Norway.